ABANDONED: Legendary Kashmiri Pandits

ABANDONED: Legendary Kashmiri Pandits Malediction,Curse,Pain,Sorrow and Agony
By: Dr.Satish Ganjoo

The Telangana Movement is being revived at the initiative of K.Chandrasekhar Rao(KCR) and a separate state is being curved out of Andhra Pradesh simply to avoid
the political crisis for the Divine Rulers of India But What about Kashmiri Pandits who have inhabited the saffron Valley of Kashmir since times immemorial, last 12000 years. Today they are vacillating in other states of India. This cursed community has suffered the seven mass exoduses so far- the last one being in 1989, when its members were brutally killed, ladies molested and children harassed. The union Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee,said on Dec 12,2009 “The demand of Telangana is 60 years old. This does not mean everywhere new states are to be created. The demand of Telangana could not be bracketed with demands for Gorkhaland, Kamatpur or other new states”. But Why…….? Legendary Kashmiri Pandits, who are living as REFUGEES in other states of India since last 20 yers need a HOMELAND to live honorably with their traditions, customs,rituals,values, language and literature . No one feels their pain,sorrow and agony.Union Home Minister , P Chidambaram is OPEN to separatist, terrorists ,
militants , killers , rapist and kidnappers – every Tom,Dick and Harry but CLOSED to Kashmiri Pandits.Why this hypocrisy…..? If Telangana can be created after 60 years of struggle and ii days of Fast, why not HOMELAND for Kashmiri Pandits after centuries of malediction,curse and sorrow , and , 20 years of struggle, pain and agony. Kashmiri Pandits living everywhere in India or abroad,can find his ROOTS and settle down peacefully , Kashmiri Pandits have suffered either at the hands of rulers, invaders or terrorist since long. It was Harsha ( AD an of extravagant habits and jumble of contraries,who robbed temple treasures and got the idols of gold and silver melted to tide over his financial crises .Before him two other kings, Jalauka and Kalasa , employed the same approach of plundering the temples to augment their depleted treasuries Harsha also employed Muslim generals , who are called Turushkas by Kalhana for the first time in the history of Kashmir. So Muslims as a class appeared in the political field and began to consolidate its roots .The rulers of Kashmir encouraged the influx of Muslims into valley .during the reign of Suhadeva (AD 1301-1320) many Muslim adventurers came to Kashmir.The chief among them was Muslim missionary- Bulbul Shah. Two others were Shahmir from Swat and Rinchana from Tibet. Shahmir came in AD 1313 along with his numerous relations.Suhadeva granted him jagir in a village in the Lar Valley. These two adventurers were instrumental in the establishment of Muslim rule in Kashmir. Dulucha a Tartar chief from Central Asia, invaded Kashmir with 60,000 strong horsemen. Suhadeva tried to induce him to retreat by paying him off a large sum of money , but the invader refused and struck terror. He stayed in the Valley for eight months and took about 50,000 Brahmans with him as slaves. However, all the troops and slaves perished while crossing the Devsar Pass.

The Cruel invader went away from the valley but left it haunted. The cursed people had lost all faith in ruler, Suhadeva. Taking the advantage of the chaos and confusion, Rinchana- the Buddhist refugee from Tibet ,occupied the throne with the help of some chiefs .He killed his benefactor ,Ramchandra, in the fort of Lar by treacherous means and married his daughter ,Kota Rani .Shahmir and Bulbul Shah managed his conversion to Islam. Ramachandra’s son, Ravanachandra and many others also embraced Islam. A Muslim class came into existence. This newly established Muslim class slowly consolidated its position and employed various methods to propagate the new faith. After the Death of Rinchana (AD 1326), Udyanadeva, the brother of Suhadeva, was installed on the throne of Kashmir and Shahmir was appointed as Commander-in-chief. Achala , a Turkish chief, invaded Kashmir during the rain of Udyanadeva, lying waste the territories he passed through.The king fled to Tibet Kota Rani –the queen , faced the invader procured his death and saved the kingdom . In this operation,Shahmir Played the dominant role. Shahmir’s influence increased tremendously and he further strengthen his position by entering into matrimonial relations with powerful nobles in Kashmir. A subversive struggle was born between the tolerant Hinduism and the militant Islam .In AD 1339 . after defeating Kota Rani by a foul stratagem and procuring her death,Shahmir ascended the throne of Kashmir under the name of Sultan Shamas-ud-Din (The Light of Religion –Islam).He got khutaba read and the coins struck to his name. Islam became the court religion. Shahmir became the legitimate author and architect of Muslim rule in Kashmir. With the establishment of the new regime Muslim missionaries,preachers,
Sayyeds and saints penetrated into the Valley. Sayyid Jalal-ud-Din , Sayyid Taj-ud-Din ,
Sayyid Hussain Simnani ,Sayyid Masud and Sayyid Yusuf came to Kashmir to avoid the intended massacre by Timur. Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani ( Shah Hamadan) entered Kashmir with 700 Sayyids, and his son, Mir Muhammad Hamadani, with 300 more .They endured in the valley under royal protection and disseminated the massage of Islam.Mir Sayyid Ali hamadani ( AD 1314-AD 1385) pronounced sixteen commandments for Non-Muslims in “ Zakhirat’ ul Mulak”

1. Muslim ruler shall not allow fresh constructions of Hindu temples and shrines for image worship.
2. No repair shall be executed to the existing Hindu temples and shrines
3. They shall not proffer Muslim Names.
4. They shall not ride a harnessed Horse.
5. They shall not move about with arms.
6. They shall not wear rings and Diamonds.
7. They shall not deal in or eat Bacon.
8. They shall not exhibit idolatrous images
9. They shall not Build horses in the neighbourhood of Muslims.
10. They shall not dispose of their dead in the neighbourhood of Muslim graveyards, nor weep or wail over their dead.
11. They shall not deal in or buy Muslim Slaves.
12. No Muslim traveler shall be refused lodging in the Hindu temples and shrines where non-Muslims shall treat him as a guest for three days.
13. No non-Muslim shall act as a spy in the Muslim state.
14. No problem shall be created for Non-Muslims who of their own will show their readiness for Islam.
15. Non-Muslims shall honour Muslims and shall leave their assembly whenever the Muslims enter the premises.
16. The dress of non-Muslims shall be different from that of Muslims to distinguish themselves.
This naturally caused animosity among the Brahmans and resulted in frail rebellion during the reign of Shahab-ud-Din (AD 1354-1373). In order to break the upheaval among the Hindus and to make them prostrate, the Sultan turned his attention towards their temples.All the temples in Srinagar, including the one at Bijbehara were wrecked to terrorize the poor Kashmiri Pandits. It seems that by this time the Sultans of Kashmir were perfectly dogmatized as a result of their contacts, interactions and intercourses with the sayyids .These Sayyids came here as absconders in search of safe harbours but maneuvered the events for their own cause and fanatic iconoclastic zeal. The Hindus began to feel deserted and alienated in their own land. To consolidate their rule sultans institutionalized the policy of extermination to eradicate all traces of Hinduism in any form.
Sikander- the Butshikan was bigoted with fanatic religious zeal to spread Islam in the entire Valley. Mir Muhammad Hamadani stimulated this fanaticism. Both hatched deadly conspiracy to prosecute the Hindus and enforce the Nizam-i-Mustafa. Jonaraja says “ The Sultan forget his kingly duties took delight day and night in breaking images……. He broke images of Martanda, vishaya , Ishana, Chakrabrit and Tripureshvara………… There was no city, no town, no village,no wood where Turuksha left the temples of gods unbroken…

“ According to Hassan ( History of Kashmir), “ This country Possessed from the times of Hindu rajas many temples which were the wonders of the world. Their workmanship was so fine and dedicate that one found himself bewildered at their sight. Sikander goaded by feelings bigotry and destroyed them and leveled them with the earth and with the material built many mosques and khanqahs. In the first instance he turned his attention towards the great Martand Temple built by Ramdev ( the temple was rebuilt by King Lalitaditya AD 724-760) on Mttan Kareva.

For one year he tried to demolish it but failed. At last in sheer dismay he dug out stone from its base and having stored enough wood in their place set fire to it. The gold gilt paintings on its walls were totally destroyed and the walls surrounding its premises were demolished. Its ruins even now strike wonder in men’s mind .At bijbehara, three hundred temples including the famous Vijiveshwara temple,which was partly damaged by Shihab-ud-Din, were destroyed. With the material of vijiveshwara temple a mosque was built and on its site o khanaqah,which is even now known as vijiveshwara Khanqah”. The stones and bricks which once configured a marvelous and splendid temple or monastery now hold up mosques. Hassan further adds “ Sikandar meted out greatest oppression to the Hindus. It was notified in the valley that if Hindus does not become the Muslim. He must leave the country or be killed. As a result some of the Hindus fled away, some accepted Islam and many Brahmins consented to be killed and gave their lives. It is said that Sikander collected by these methods ,six maunds of sacred thread form hindu convert and burnt them.

To be continued………….

Bhim Singh welcomes India’s stand on ‘Gilgit-Baltistan’

Bhim Singh welcomes India’s stand on ‘Gilgit-Baltistan’

Prof. Bhim Singh, Chairman, National Panthers Party and Member, NIC today hailed the reaction by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India on the Pakistan’s attempt to legalize its occupation of Gilgit-Baltistan by treating this part of Indian Territory as 6th Province of Pakistan.

Prof. Bhim Singh expressed satisfaction vis-à-vis India’s commitment on Gilgit-Baltistan, a Territory of Jammu and Kashmir which was occupied by Pakistan in 1947 by kidnapping and illegally detaining the then Governor of Gilgit-Baltistan, Brig. Ghansara Singh who was appointed by Maharaja Hari Singh. Since then this area of Chitral, Gilgit and Baltistan comprising 32,500 sq. miles continues to be under the illegal occupation of Pakistan with India keeping mum on the plight of its habitants who were citizens of Jammu and Kashmir.

Prof. Bhim Singh thanked the Prime Minister of India for accepting his 40 years old demand that India should take up the cause of liberation of Gilgit-Baltistan from Pakistan and restoration of fundamental and human rights to its 1.5 million citizens who continue to remain as slaves of Pakistan’s military rulers sans basic civil, economic and political rights for the past six decades.

Prof. Bhim Singh said that policy of the Government of India under Dr. Manmohan Singh towards Gilgit and Baltistan has strongly focused the attention of the world that, “Entire State of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India by virtue of rejection of 1947. The so-called ‘Gilgit-Baltistan empowerment and Self-government Order-2009 was yet another cosmetic exercise intended to camouflage Pakistan’s illegal occupation”. This is for the first time that India has conveyed its message in clear terms to the world that there shall be no compromise on the issue.

Prof. Bhim Singh has urged on all the groups and political organizations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir everywhere including in Europe, UK, USA, POK to organize a universal, civil and political rights solidarity day with our people in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral on February 1, 2010. He appealed to APNA, Gilgit-Baltistan Liberation Groups and their leaders to organize protests and demonstrations for the liberation of Gilgit-Baltistan from the illegal occupation of Pakistan.

Sd/-Sudesh Dogra

Political Secretary

Sheikh-Indira Accord 1975, Agreed Conclusions

Sheikh-Indira Accord 1975, Agreed Conclusions 1. The State of Jammu and Kashmir which is a constituent unit of the Union of India, shall, in its relation with the Union, continue to be governed by Article 370 of the Constitution of India. 2. The residuary powers of legislation shall remain with the State; however, Parliament will continue to have power to make laws relating to the prevention of activities directed towards disclaiming, questioning or disrupting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India or bringing about cession of a part of the territory of India or secession of a part of the territory of India from the Union or causing insult to the Indian National Flag, the Indian National Anthem and the Constitution. 3. Where any provision of the Constitution of India had been applied to the State of Jammu and Kashmir with adaptation and modification, such adaptations and modifications can be altered or repealed by an order of the President under Article 370, each individual proposal in this behalf being considered on its merits ; but provisions of the Constitution of India already applied to the State of Jammu and Kashmir without adaptation or modification are unalterable. 4. With a view to assuring freedom to the State of Jammu and Kashmir to have its own legislation on matters like welfare measures, cultural matters, social security, personal law and procedural laws, in a manner suited to the special conditions in the State, it is agreed that the State Government can review the laws made by Parliament or extended to the State after 1953 on any matter relatable to the Concurrent List and may decide which of them, in its opinion, needs amendment or repeal. Thereafter, appropriate steps may be taken under Article 254 of the Constitution of India. The grant of President’s assent to such legislation would be sympathetically considered. The same approach would be adopted in regard to laws to be made by Parliament in future under the Proviso to clause 2 of the Article. The State Government shall be consulted regarding the application of any such law to the State and the views of the State Government shall receive the fullest consideration. 5. As an arrangement reciprocal to what has been provided under Article 368, a suitable modification of that Article as applied to State should be made by Presidential order to the effect that no law made by the Legislature of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, seeking to make any change in or in the effect of any provision of Constitution of the State of Jammu and Kashmir relating to any of the under mentioned matters, shall take effect unless the Bill, having been reserved for the consideration of the President, receives his assent ; the matters are: – the appointment, powers, functions, duties, privileges and immunities of the Governor, and the following matters relating to Elections namely, the superintendence, direction and control of Elections by the Election Commission of India, eligibility for inclusion in the electoral rolls without discrimination, adult suffrage and composition of the Legislative Council, being matters specified in sections 138,139, 140 and 50 of the Constitution of the State of Jammu and Kashmir. 6. No agreement was possible on the question of nomenclature of the Governor and the Chief Minister and the matter is therefore remitted to the Principals. Mirza Mohammad Afzal Beg G. Parthasarthi New Delhi, November 13,1974.

Non-territorial Settlement: Towards a Second Partition

Non-territorial Settlement: Towards a Second Partition

Mohan Krishen Teng

Engagement with Pakistan, which the Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has commended to the Indian People as “a way forward” to establish a relationship of peace, is in real terms a prescription for the second Partition of India. The composite dialogue between the two countries and the long Track Two negotiations held behind the scenes for over a decade now, have centered round the quest for a settlement on Jammu & Kashmir, which is acceptable to the Muslims of Pakistan and the Muslims of Jammu & Kashmir. The Indian Prime Minister’s claim to have formulated proposals envisaging a non-territorial solution on Jammu & Kashmir, which does not involve any territorial adjustments and which would be acceptable to Pakistan and the Muslims of Jammu & Kashmir, is deceptively simple. A Muslim sphere of interest In essence, Dr. Manmohan Singh’s approach underlines the recognition of Jammu & Kashmir as a separate sphere of Muslim interest in the Republic of India. The proposed non-territorial settlement seems to essentially envisage the inclusion of Jammu & Kashmir in the territories of India, but at the same time exclude it from the secular political organization of India. The approach further envisages the exclusion the state of Jammu & Kashmir from the territories of Pakistan, while at the same time including it in the political organization of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The methods and means of balancing the act of the inclusion of Jammu & Kashmir in the territories of India and its exclusion from the Indian political organization and the exclusion of the state from the territories of Pakistan with its inclusion into the political organization of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, are spelt out in the proposals made by General Musharraf, the then President of Pakistan. Gen. Musharraf, by no means a friend of India, had the opportunity of a lifetime, perhaps one he never expected to come his way, to accept the formula of a non-territorial settlement on Jammu & Kashmir which virtually opens the way for the Second Partition of India. Cabinet Mission Part II Musharraf accepted the formula of a non-territorial solution on Jammu & Kashmir exactly the way the founder of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, had accepted the Cabinet Mission Plan. The principles underlying the non-territorial concept as envisaged by Manmohan Singh are identical with the principles which underlined the Cabinet Mission Plan. The Cabinet Mission Plan underlined the recognition of a separate sphere of influence with a separate political organization, constituted of the Muslim majority provinces of British India, within a broad structure of a future confederation of India. Ironically, British historians of the Partition of India later made the startling revelation that the Cabinet Mission Plan was originally conceived by the senior Muslim leadership of the Indian National Congress! When the Muslim League accepted the Cabinet Mission Plan, Jinnah exclaimed that he had accepted the Plan because it recognized the principle of Pakistan. History proved Jinnah right. The Cabinet Mission Plan led straight to the Partition of India in 1947. Musharraf had no reason to be dissatisfied with the non-territorial solution of Jammu & Kashmir. Like Mohammad Ali Jinnah, he was wise enough to understand where the recognition of Jammu & Kashmir into a separate Muslim sphere of interest in India would lead to. India, he must have felt, was the one country where History would repeat itself. The Cabinet Mission Plan was a prescription for the complete balkanization of India. The British officials and men, who were close witnesses of the events in India those days, wrote later that had the Cabinet Mission Plan been implemented, India would have broken into several fragments. The Government of Pakistan must be fully aware that the de jure recognition of Jammu & Kashmir into a separate Muslim sphere of influence in India would disrupt the Sanskrit content of the northern frontier of India, and shift the battlefront from the Line of Control in Jammu & Kashmir to the Shivalik plains situated to the east of river Ravi. Incomplete final settlement Neither the Prime Minister of India, nor the Indian Foreign Office, have provided the people of India a clear exposition on the content and contours of the non-territorial settlement on Jammu & Kashmir. The Indian Prime Minister has publicly only stressed the necessity to render the Line of Control irrelevant as the basis of their perspective. The Indian Prime Minister has also unambiguously stated that some sort of final settlement had already been arrived at between India and Pakistan during the rule of Pervez Musharraf, which could not be given a practical shape because of the internal instability in Pakistan. However, a clear exposition of the terms and conditionalities of the proposed settlement on Jammu & Kashmir was made by former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. The broad structure of the proposals he made underlined: – Demarcation of the Muslim majority regions of the state including those situated to the west of river Chenab from the Hindu majority areas situated mainly to the east of river Chenab. – Dissolution of the Line of Control in Jammu & Kashmir. – The demilitarization of the State. – Self-rule. – Joint management of the State by India and Pakistan. Gen. Musharraf left no one in doubt about the fact that the proposals he made formed the broad framework of the negotiations which took place between the two countries, almost up to the time Musharraf was forced to step down from office. Whether the new successor Government in Pakistan accepted to continue negotiations with the Indian Government on the basis of the Musharraf Plan, is not yet clear. It is, however, clear that the Indian Government did not abandon its commitment to implement the proposals Musharraf had made. Integration with Pakistan in 10 years An overall assessment of Musharraf Plan leaves no one in doubt about its import. The plan is an ingenious road map to bring about the unification of Jammu & Kashmir with Pakistan within a period of ten years. Musharraf Plan has specified ten years, after which the whole process would be subject to review. The demarcation of the Muslim majority regions of the state and their reorganization into five Muslim majority zones, and the reorganization of the two and a half districts of Jammu, Kathua and Udhampur into a Hindu majority zone, is aimed to confine the Hindu and Sikh population of the State, nearly four million, towards the east of river Chenab. The dissolution of the Line of Control through the stratagem of creating a porous border and joint management is actually aimed to integrate the five Muslim majority zones of the State with the occupied territories of POK. These occupied territories have been used by Pakistan as a springboard of Jihad against India The demilitarization of the State, which forms the most prominent part of the Musharraf Plan, is aimed at the withdrawal of the Indian security forces from the Muslim majority zones of the state, and their replacement by the militarized separatist forces which have been fighting against India for the last two decades. Deceptive self-rule The most deceptive of the conditionalities envisaged by the Musharraf Plan is the implementation of self-rule in the State. Self-rule underlines the transfer of power in the state to Muslim separatist regimes through the instrumentalities of multiple legislative bodies constituted to fortify Muslim demographic domains. The last, and in fact the least conspicuous part of the Musharraf Plan underlines the transfer of the de facto control over the State to the Government of Pakistan, which after the period of ten years, would be followed by the transfer of de jure control over the State. When the army of the Sikh monarch, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, chased the Durrani Afghans across the river Attock in the north-west of India and fought its way up to Daulat Beg Ouldi in the north of Ladakh, the Sikhs closed the routes of invasion into India from the north. The dissolution of the Line of Control will only shift the battlefront with Pakistan to the Shivalik plains of Jammu situated to the east of river Ravi.

Prof MK Teng is a retired Professor and Head of the Political Science Department of Kashmir University; he has authored many books, including a seminal work on Article 370

Return of Migrants : Kashmir is under the control of India…………………

Return of Migrants : Kashmir is under the control of India………………… Daya Sagar Sharma

A Look Through the Mist

The upper reaches of areas of Doda, {Bhaderwa/ Kishtwar/ Ramban } Rajouri, Poonch, Udhampur, Kathua too are affected by militancy as are areas like Baramulla, Kupwara , Anantnag, The muslim population in these areas too is reasonable large. The people are poor and good number is Hindu in these areas. So far the official data as is available does not indicate appreciable displacement / migration from areas outside Kashmir valley though there have been many brutal killing and rape cases there. Under the circumstances all Kashmiri { Valley }Muslims are being misunderstood by the other world as being fully involved in pushing out Kashmiri Hindus from valley. Where as the truth is not so. Delay is causing a great damage to the good will of Kashmiri Muslims as well as the ties between Hindu & Muslim could weaken more out of ignorance. Though the number of Kashmiri Migrant families that actually migrated from 1989 to 1991 { majority being Kashmiri Hindu …Pundits } from Kashmir valley is not known , the Kashmiri Pundit families who have got them selves registered as Kashmiri migrants { some also call their self as internally displaced } may be over 50000. The number of muslims / Sikhs / non Kashmiri speaking Hindu may be hardly 2 to 3 percent of this number. So when we refer to the return of Kashmir Migrants to Kashmir valley , it is taken as with reference to return of Kashmiri Hindu to Kashmir Valley { that too particularly Kashmiri pundits }. Local Hindu from Kashmir Valley is out for over 20 years. It makes the out side world think convincingly that India has some serious problem in J&K. The question that more disturbs is that when 500000 to 600000 Indian tourists { nearly 90 percent non muslims } can visit Kashmir Valley for leisure and vacations { including honeymooning } every year over a period of 4 months , why can not the safe return of Kashmiri migrants be made possible ?. In case some one contests that since the majority community { muslims } of Kashmir is not for India the Kashmiri Pundits so are not safe in valley. In case for argument sake it is accepted then the another question that rises is that how are 500000 to 600000 Indian tourists { nearly over 90 percent non muslims } are visiting Kashmir Valley for leisure and vacations { including honeymooning } every year over a period of 4 months ? Some KP migrants do argue that the tourist Indians visit Kashmir forgetting their identity ? This way one would even conclude that 100 crore “Indians are migrants” as regards Kashmir Valley . This is not a convincing plea. Rather it more questions the seriousness of New Delhi in cooling down the turmoil in JK. The foreign countries under the circumstances are getting the impressions that {i} it is only Kashmir valley that is disturbed and Kashmiri majority { muslims } had not accepted 1947 accession {ii} it is only Kashmiri Hindu { Pundits } who express rights over the land of Kashmir valley and oppose the separatist movement {iii}Jammu and Kashmir State { Particularly Kashmir region }is under the influence of separatist and externally sponsored terrorist activities {iv} the GOI has no control worth providing socio economic security to the Kashmiri Hindu or those who dare profess Indian nationality in Kashmir. Where as the facts are surely not like this. Yes one could say that New Delhi has not so far set the return of Kashmiri Hindu to valley as its first priority. No doubt as regards the economic and social support to Kashmiri Migrants Government of India has been reasonably considerate in sensing the miseries of those Kashmiri Pandits who had to run away from Kashmir Province in 1989/1990. Some of them still staying in the tents and one room tentaments provided by the J&K Government at Nagrota, Muthi, Mishriwala and Roopnagar near Jammu. POJK is under the control of Pakistan but Kashmir is under the control of India. POJK Displaced persons were displaced in 1947 from Pakistan Controlled parts of Kashmir { Jammu and Kashmir }.Sensitizing the conditions for socio economic return of POK Displaced Persons does have international compulsion . But Kashmiri migrants are away from their own homes in Indian controlled territories of the day. Government of India proposed { 2004/2005 } to add one more pacca room to the one room accommodation already provided to migrants and laying foundations of multi storey pucca apartments in 2007 for Kashmiri Migrants outside Valley have surely been wrong signals { indirectly strengthening terrorist / separatist cause signaling that GOI is not hopeful for ensuring the safe return of Kashmiri Hindu to the Valley even after 20 years } to the World community. Kashmiri kids who were in primary class in 1989 are now { 2009 } the thinking youth force of Kashmir valley. The way time has been lost has made many of them to start thinking of some dispute regarding their Nationality. Non Hindu Kashmiri is regularly so mis informed after 1989 about the intentions of Bharat Sarkar that they do not much believe in confidence building efforts of the government officials as well as the security forces . They doubt the trueness of government loyalists. The local Kashmiries are getting more and more confused ; more and more misinformed. Those who are staying back in Kashmir valley and are in teens / twenties this day have very less positive information about Kashmir being India. Enough rearing grounds have emerged for anti India forces ( Pakistan, foreign mercenaries and local insurgent/ Pakistan loyalists) to win confidence/ sympathies against India. The socio political environment in J&K is deteriorating. Any more delay for return of Hindu migrants would dismantle the communal matrix beyond normal reconstruction. The Kashmiri Hindu migrant kids of 1989/90 too are the youth of the day. They too carry horrifying memories of 1989/1990 when their parents had to run away carrying what ever they could pick. All these years it is the Kashmiri Pundit who has conducted more of the seminars, workshops, conventions on the subject of Migration from Kashmir valley . Surely Pundits were forced by the circumstances to paint the secularism of Kashmiri muslims that rough {may be were under compulsions to speak not good about the secular credentials Kashmiri Muslims }. Under the present circumstances they will not find it easy to live with the post 1990 Muslim Community. Unless assured of ultimate social security and economic benefits .Some migrant leadership may not feel the prevailing security conditions worth taking risk of losing the benefits in education, business , jobs and sympathies they are presently getting as migrants. The response the Prime Ministers package for the Kashmiri Migrants has got could make some to even infer that the Kashmiri Migrants too do not appear to be that much interested for return to Kashmir. Migration has not taken place due to economic reasons and hence government of India should not hope possible return in economic packages only. There fore some hard decision will have to be taken. Government of India must set return of migrants to Kashmir Valley as priority number one. Delay in their return is causing more and more damage to the people of Jammu and Kashmir as a whole..

 ( * Daya Sagar is a social activist and senior coloumnist on Kashmir affairs dayasagr at yahoo.co.uk }

Obama should know Kashmir’s accession is irrevocable

Obama should know Kashmir’s accession is irrevocable
J. N. RAINA

A lot of fuss has been created about Kashmir. It is a deliberate attempt to confuse the international opinion about the ‘ownership’ of Kashmir.The U S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s obfuscatory remarks that “feelings of the people of Kashmir” must be taken into account to resolve the issue, tantamount to interference in India’s internal affairs. She must understand that Jammu and Kashmir, constituting the three regions of Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh, is an integral part of India, just like Texas—where feeble voices of secession were heard recently— belongs to US.

The Obama administration has even gone to the extent of ‘admonishing’ India to provide a ‘solution’ to the so-called Kashmir ‘problem’. These tangy observations are made off and on by fusspots, not just to baffle global opinion about Kashmir, but to force another partition of India and beleaguered Pakistan. The latter has already got truncated, following the separation of East Pakistan, to become Bangladesh. The real motif behind these pungent remarks cannot be underestimated. There has been no end to machinations against India, ever since the subcontinent was divided by the imperialists in 1947. The root cause of partition was the “clash of civilization”.

Both Mrs Clinton and President Barack Obama must take a judicious view of the fact that Kashmir ‘problem’ was resolved when Maharaja Hari Singh executed the instrument of accession on October 26, 1947. The accession was formally accepted and signed by Lord Mountbatten on the following day; October 27, 1947, in his capacity as the Governor General of India.

At the dawn of India’s independence, the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, like 560 other such states, had a choice to either join India or Pakistan. When the British paramountacy came to an end, the Maharaja had no alternative but to accede to India, in the wake of Pakistan-backed Tribal invasion. However, he consulted then popular leader Sheikh Abdullah, who subsequently took over the reins of the administration.

Any form of ‘secession’, being engineered by Pakistan, in collusion with some foreign forces, can lead to a greater clash of civilization, which can have far reaching consequences globally. It will have a cascading effect in the western nations, which are already on Osama bin Laden’s hit list. Laden has threatened American Christians to embrace Islam. He is acquiring nuclear weapons. It was 9\11 that changed the world, according to Italy’s ambassador to India, Roberto Toscano. “Clash of civilizations has left the sphere of scholarly debate to become a familiar reference”, he says.

Pakistan has been provoking the Kashmiri separatists and misleading the international community that Kashmir ‘is a disputed territory’ and Kashmiris were ‘waging a struggle for their right of self-determination’. Plebiscite is a dead issue. It was buried in the Indian Ocean when Bangladesh emerged, following the 1971 war between India and Pakistan. Now Pakistan is seeking the services of Barack Obama, to get Kashmir on a platter. The U S has a vested interest in Afghanistan. This is why India is being pressurized to obtain Kashmiris opinion while the two countries resume talks. The U S Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs has repeatedly said: “Any resolution of Kashmir has to take into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people.”

Pakistan has been supporting the secessionists in Kashmir, because it is a Muslim-majority state, although the divide between Hindus and Muslims is not so wide. By dint of that very notion, East Pakistan would not have separated in 1971 war. India is united because of its huge diversity. It is the system of governance that matters.

The Kashmir issue would have been non-existent, but for mass conversion of Hindus in the 14th century. Kashmir was a Hindu kingdom till 1320. The civilizational clash, or whatever we may call it, continues even now. The flash point reached when over half a million Hindus were driven out from Kashmir in 1990.

Most member –nations of the UN General Assembly believe that the right to ‘self-determination’ applied only to people under colonial domination by foreigners. India is not a colonial power. Kashmir’s accession is legal and irrevocable. The UN has observed that ‘self-determination’ cannot be allowed to “dismember or impair, totally or in part, the territorial integrity of sovereign states, conducting themselves in compliance with the principle of equal rights…” Some members of the United Nations Committee on India and Pakistan observe “Mere technicality of holding a plebiscite seemed beyond the scope of reality.” Kashmiri Muslims are not being discriminated. In Pakistan, even Muslims are discriminated, not to speak of Hindus. Kashmiri Muslims are being misled by vested interests. They have no right to secede. The Security Council, according to political observers, has recognized the accession of Jammu and Kashmir, while accepting India’s complaint against Pakistan in 1948.

Says veteran journalist and writer M J Akbar, “There is some good news for Hillary Clinton. The Kashmir problem has already been solved. It was solved on January 1, 1948, the day India and Pakistan froze their troops along a Cease Fire Line, recognized by the United Nations”. Kashmiri opinion has been ascertained from time to time whenever elections were held. Only recently, Kashmiri Muslims exercised their franchise overwhelmingly, ignoring the boycott call of the pro-Pakistan Hurriyat Conference and the guns of militants.

When the Shimla accord was signed after the 1971 war, the Cease Fire Line was converted into the Line of Control (LoC). Some saner persons suggested to convert the LoC—de facto border—into the de jure one, making it an international border, although it will be difficult for India to forgo its claim to Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK), which is legally a part of India.

The U S as a ‘friend’ of both the countries can play a constructive role in making them to agree to convert the de facto border into the de jure border. But instead, it is provoking Pakistan and the separatists, to keep the Kashmir pot boiling, by making frequent references to the so-called Kashmir ‘problem’, which actually does not exist.

US shows eagerness to develop good relations with New Delhi; yet it has been arm-twisting India on Kashmir. The Obama administration has signalled that it would take ‘markedly a different approach’ to Kashmir from the previous Bush administration. Some time ago, Obama had decided to appoint a ‘special envoy’ for Kashmir. The US might fastidiously pass on some modern technologies to India, as a bargaining factor, but not without attaching strings.

The rub is, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been keeping mum and not reacting to such verbose. India can never bargain on Kashmir. The U S wants to weaken India, asking it to demilitarize Kashmir though it knows Pakistan has a well-established ‘proxy force’ placed across the LOC to bleed India.

Kashmiri parties hold Pak Govt responsible for terrorism in valley

Kashmiri parties hold Pak Govt responsible for terrorism in valley
London,
ANI

London, (ANI): Ahead of ‘Black Day’, Kashmir leaders have slammed Pakistan for using their land for proxy wars and terrorism.

“They (Kashmiris in Pakistan occupied Kashmir) are being used from last 15-16 years. The way they started the proxy war. They use the Kashmiris basically, not only Kashmiris, all from the Pakistani jails actually.

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Those people in the jail bring them out and put them in the name of Jihad and we can’t call them Jihad,” Kashmir National Party Chairman Abbas Butt said at a conference here.

‘Black Day’ is observed on October 22, the day Pakistani tribals raided Kashmir.

The leaders of the parties who attended the conference expressed concern over the presence of Chinese troops in the region.

“Ten thousand army is here. They are here to stay. Previously they used to come to complete various projects and they used to go back. This time they are taking part in local politics. They are encouraging politicians and playing role in society. They are building proper houses, which indicates they are going to stay. What the Pakistan government is doing is they are leasing out different areas to Chinese for exploration,” said KNP spokesperson Shabir Choudhry.

The KNP has also decided to hold a public rally and a meeting in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan occupied Kashmir.

Sardar Shoukath Ali Kashmiri, the Chairman of the United Kashmiri People National Party, who has been living in exile in Geneva for the last decade said that the Pakistani government is supporting Kashmir valley based terror camps.

“All these organisations have no locus standi, even they have not any representation … because people of Pakistan not actually give them any kind of mandate like Jamat-e-Islami and Lashkar-e-Toiba LeT. They are actually isolated but they have big support from the state institutions,” he said. (ANI)

Huge anti-Pak protests in PoK, violence erupts

Huge anti-Pak protests in PoK, violence erupts

ANI

Published on Sat 24th Oct 2009

 Islamabad, Oct 24: Kashmiris from all walks of life observed a “Black Day” in Pakistan Kashmir, including capital Muzaffarabad, on the occasion of the 62nd anniversary of the invasion of the area by Pakistani army men disguised as tribesmen from the North West Frontier of Province (NWFP), known as the Lashkars. A large number of people, carrying black flags and protest placards, participated in demonstrations held in various parts of Pakistan Kashmir. AHuge anti-Pak protests in PoK, violence erupts ANIPublished on Sat 24th Oct 2009 07:45:31Updated On Sat 24th Oct 2009 07:46:51 Islamabad, Oct 24: Kashmiris from all walks of life observed a “Black Day” in Pakistan Kashmir, including capital Muzaffarabad, on the occasion of the 62nd anniversary of the invasion of the area by Pakistani army men disguised as tribesmen from the North West Frontier of Province (NWFP), known as the Lashkars. A large number of people, carrying black flags and protest placards, participated in demonstrations held in various parts of Pakistan Kashmir. Among the participants were Arif Shahid, the general secretary of the All Party National Alliance (APNA), Baltistan National Front leader Nawaz Khan Naji and Abdul Hamid Khan, the Chairman of Balawaristan National Front, besides others. So vociferous were the protests by the almost 800-odd participants, that security forces deployed to ensure maintenance of law and order, had to use teargas shells and firing in the air to disperse themmong the participants were Arif Shahid, the general secretary of the All Party National Alliance (APNA), Baltistan National Front leader Nawaz Khan Naji and Abdul Hamid Khan, the Chairman of Balawaristan National Front, besides others. So vociferous were the protests by the almost 800-odd participants, that security forces deployed to ensure maintenance of law and order, had to use teargas shells and firing in the air to disperse them

The History of Kashmiri Pandits

The Pandit Reborn- By Jia Lal Kilam

ALI SHAH could not maintain himself long on the throne. He had struck no deep roots in the people. The bulk of the people were subjected to a forcible conversion, and though later on they reconciled themselves to the inevitable, yet for the time being the wound was fresh and the resentment alive. There were many others who, though not converted dragged their miserable existence either by paying Jazia or by passing their days in disguise. The result was a universal discontent, Whether stung by a remorse for his own misdeeds or for the mere love of travel Ali Shah planned a pilgrimage to the holy places of Islam, but on reaching Jammu he changed his mind on the advice of the king of that place and he returned back to Kashmir with a considerable force supplied to him by the latter. He had appointed his younger brother Shahi Khan to act on his behalf in his absence. Shahi Khan came out to meet him, but was defeated by the superior forces of Ali Shah. Ali Shah again ascended the throne, but was soon defeated by Shahi Khan, who mounted the throne now and took the title of Zainulabdin. That Shahi Khan would have won an easy victory shows that Ali Shah, the rightful sovereign had lost the confidence of the people.

Shahi Khan now known as Zainulabdin opened a new chapter in the annals of Muslim Kashmir. From tenth century onwards and even earlier the Muslims, particularly the Arabs, had almost monopolized the trade in the East. Arab ships went as far as China and Japan. In the fourteenth century these traders had established their colonies in South India, Ceylon, Java, Sumatra, and even in China. Their contacts with races and religions other than their own had widened their outlook. The enormous gains which they reaped from trade abroad made them keep their countries open for non-Muslim traders too. Fresh ideas poured into the Muslim lands. With the free flow of ideas which now broke through the iron ring of strict isolation, it was but natural that the Governments too in most Muslim countries became very tolerant. Poets and philosophers with a radical outlook came into being and inspite of the rigidity of the Muslim Code there came about a revolution in men’s minds. Kashmir also shared the spirit of the age. In the reign of Zainulabdin trade and commerce flourished. Kashmiri traders went as far away as Turkey and with them came new ideas and many learned men. Zainulabdin with his receptive mind fully partook of this new spirit and became very tolerant. He turned his attention to the establishment of real peace in the country. He dealt with lawless elements with an iron hand, and strengthened the defences of the frontiers. This gave a great deal of encouragement to trade, and with the establishment of safe communications learned people and traders and industrialists from all over Asia began coming over to the country. Many industries were started and above all agriculture was made a special concern of the State. Gigantic irrigation schemes were undertaken and completed which exist to the present day. Where ever one may go in Kashmir, he will, in spite of the efflux of five centuries, come across with the name of this king. Zainagir Zainapur, Zainadub, Zaina Lank, Zaina Ganga and Zaina Kadal bear eloquent testimony to the great and glorious rule of this King.

It has already been noticed that the Hindu population was totally uprooted. An overwhelming majority of the people was converted forcibly, though many there were who accepted the new creed with their free will. A good number of Brahmans had left the country and many more were passing their days in ignominy and wretchedness only on payment of Jazia. But they could not openly declare themselves as Hindus nor couId they affix their Hindu mark on their foreheads, much less could they pray in their temples or perform any religious ceremony. But with Zainulabdin coming to power the Brahmans got a respite. Again we find them practising some arts, notably medicine. In this useful art they had achieved from times immemorial a mastery which they had maintained even in spite of the vicissitudes of times through which they had to pass. Their fame began to re-assert itself and in course of time it reached the royal ears as well. Zainulabdin got a poisonous boil which gave him much trouble. The court physicians tried their skill but failed, Jona Raja, the historian says “As flowers are not obtainable in the month of Magha on account of the mischief by snow, even so physicians who knew about poisons could not at that time be found in the country owing to Governmental oppression. The servants of the king at last found out Shri Bhatta who knew the antidotes of poisons and was well-versed in the art of healing, but out of fear he, for a long time delayed to come. When he arrived, the king gave him encouragement and he completely cured the king of the poisonous boil.” The king wanted to make munificent gifts to Shri Bhatta. But the latter refused to accept any. But when pressed hard, he made a request which was to the effect that the Jazia on the Brahmans be remitted, and opportunities be assured to them to develop their mental and moral resources without any let or hinderance. The selflessness displayed by the physician Shri Bhatta had its effect upon the mind of the king. The request was accepted and Jazia was remitted. The Brahman was freed from the position of inferiority to which he was relegated by the previous kings.

Shri Bhatta’s selflessness and the acceptance of his request by the king proved a land-mark in the history of Hinduism in Kashmir. Shri Bhatta’s attitude shows that the will to live as a group by themselves was very predominent amongst the Brahmans which was shared by Shri Bhatta in an equal measure with the whole lot of them. Freed from the shackles of Jazia and other handicaps the Brahmans started their own reorganization and rehabilitation. By now the Persian had become the official language. The desire to share office with others could not be fulfilled without a study of Persian. The Brahmans who were poppularly known as Bhattas took to the study of Persian and in a brief span of a few years they acquired a mastery over this language. But the Sanskrit learning and their religious ceremonies were not forgotten because this was the only distinctive feature to keep them alive as a separate group. There was now practically only one caste, that of the Brahmans which represented Hinduism in Kashmir. From this did now ” Lords Spiritual and Temporal” again take their birth, just as in the past the Lords spiritual and Temporal sprang out of the vis (populace.) The caste was divided further into two sub-castes, the Karkuns and the Bhasha Bhatta or Bhacha Bhat, the former included amongst its fold those who studied Persian and entered Government service and the latter those who studied Bhasha, i.e., Sanskrit and took charge of the religious affairs of the community. But how was the division of labour to be made? It was decided that a daughter’s son of a person should be made a Bhasha Bhatta to administer to the religious needs of his maternal grandfather’s family. The arrangement was simple enough, as it began involving ho loss of status to the Bhaska Bhatta, but in course of time this arrangement became responsible for the creation of two distinct classes with a distinctive culture and mode of life and habits with the result that though there is no legal or religious bar, yet the two classes seldom inter-marry these days. In the beginning the Bhasha Bhattas prided at having been given the exalted position of the custodian of the religion and learning of the country and may be that they were looked at with great esteem and regard by the Karkuns. But for his maintenance the Bhasha Bhatta was dependent upon the Karkuns. In course of time they lost their importance. The rise and fall of the Karkun made a corresponding increase or decrease in Basha Bhatta’s economic position. Gradually the majority of the Bhasha Bhatta’s became like the parts of a soul-less machine destined to perform ceremonies in a mechanical manner in lieu of a pittance they eked out of the munificence of the Karkun, but some of them maintained their highest traditions, and their fame for great learning and culture resounded from one end to the other. But socially, because of their economic dependence upon them, they in course of time came to be looked down by the Karkuns. Thus the Kashmiri Pandit took his birth in his modern shape, though till then the name Kashmiri Pandit was not coined to describe this community which was described as Bhatta. Even now a Kashmiri Pandit at home describes himself as a Bhatta and it is by this name that he is described by others in Kashmir.

Having cured the king and refused to accept a reward, Shri Bhatta rose very high in the official favour. He was made the court physician and Afsar-ul-ataba, the Head of the Medical Department. His influence both with the king and his own people was very great. This influence he utilised in the rehabilitation of his people. The king was all prepared for this. He wanted peace and prosperity. Jona Raja says ” As the lion does not attack other animals in the hermitage of saints, so the Turshkas who were very much alarmed did not now oppress the Brahmans as they had done before. Brilliant as the sun the king bestowed his favours on men of merit (Brahmans) whose very existence had been endangered previously.” The result was that many Brahmans who were forcibly converted during previous times were reconverted without any molestation. Those who had fled away came back in large numbers. The king gave them rent free lands and besides imported a number of Brahmans from Jagannath and Yogis from Kurukhshetra. The Brahmans were free to practise their religion and some temples that were damaged during the previous rule were repaired. Sanskrit books that were destroyed were sent for from India. Many Sanskrit books were translated into Persian and similarly Persian books into Sanskrit. A free kitchen was established for Yogis and other Sanyasis and Pathshalas were established for the propagation of Sanskrit learning. In short no stone was left unturned in giving fullest relief to the Brahmans. No wonder that the Sultan came to be known and is even now known as Bhatta Shah i. e., the king of Bhattas. The Brahmans repaired to the Sultan’s Court with their petty grievances and complaints and like the Hindu kings of old the Sultan listened and redressed them. In Zainpur and Zainagir rent free lands were given to them.

The Brahman, the Pandit or the Bhatta proved a source of great strength to the Sultan. In intellectual field he enriched his court, and in the land assessment work his services were unique. The land settlement records were placed in charge of and prepared by the Brahmans. The village administration was totally in Brahman’s hands and being the only literate man in the village he was a useful member of the village community. This accounts for the existence of Pandits though in very small numbers in villages with a predominant Muslim population in spite of the vicissitudes through which he had to go in course of centuries that rolled by from the time Zainulabdin held sway. With his apptitude for literary pursuits, the Brahmans took to the study of Persian and within a short time acquired a sound and workable knowledge of the language. This made their entry into subordinate services both easy and possible. Jona Raja and Shri Vara, the two Hindu chroniclers, have bestowed unbounded praise upon the Sultan for his open partiality for the Brahmans and their sacred books. A sort of Research Department was established which amongst others performed the task of translating Sanskrit books into Persian and vice versa. This opened the portals of Sanskrit learning to the Muslim savants and the Brahmans themselves learnt Persian and Arabic. Both the communities came to respect the learning of each other. A new culture now began to grow which was the outcome of a synthesis in the mode of thought and way of life followed by the two communities. Saints and sages now appeared who preached oneness of God and brotherhood of his creatures. Common places of worship sprang into existence where both the Brahman and the Sheikh prayed. A common poetry sprang up in Kashmiri language which was sung by both the Hindus and Muslims. The language was beautified further by an admixture of Sanskrit and Persian words used to describe highest ideas pertaining to the mystic faith which all of them shared copiously. In spite of the constant changes which took place on the political horizon after Zainulabdin’s reign there came about little change in the life of the people.

At the top many Kashmiri Brahmans came to prominence. Some of them were in constant attendance on the Sultan whom they described in their writings as Suratrana Shri Jainulavadena. He listened with great pleasure to recitations from Nilmat Purana and other Shastras such as Vashishta Brahama Darshana. Shrivara the historian says, “The king heard me recite the Vashishta Brahma Darshna composed by Valmiki which is known as the way to salvation and when he heard the annotations he was pervaded by a feeling of tranquility. He remembered them even in his dreams.” The influence of these Brahmans was so great that he forbade the killing of fish in cettain tanks and even stopped cow-killing, and also meat eating on some days. No wonder that a Muslim historian deplcres that ” the king imported back all the practices of the infidels which were once vanished from his land.” But the king, unmindful of the Muslim historian, trod his Fath which led to his eternal credit and greatness of the country.

In his reign the country witnessed an unprecedented prosperity. Agriculture reached its highest peak. The produce was as much as it was never witnessed ever since, not even under the glorious rule of the Moghuls. The produce of Shali alone was 774 lacs of Khirwars (154 lacs of maunds). The land settlement including agriculture was in charge of the Brahmans. For these operations the country was divided into two provinces. Each province was placed in charge of a Qanungo whose duty it was to look after the general welfare of irrigation and to prepare settlement records. Madho Kaul, was put in charge of northern province and, Ganesh Kaul in charge of the southern. They both were responsible to an inter- provincial head known as Sadar Qanungo by name Gopala Kaul. Under their supervision huge irrigation schemes were undertaken. L al Kuhl, Shah Kuhl exist even up to this day and feed thousands of acres of land. As was but natural these three Brahmans recruited on subordinate posts of Patwaris and others, men from their own community. The Patwaris prepared village records. This class of Patwaris lives upto this date. Ever since they have been holding these posts in heredity, the son following the father and so on. Sultans came and Sultans went, some of them cruel harsh and oppressive to the Brahmans now known as Pandits, but the Pandit Patwari on account of the usefulness of his job was left unmolested. There were many other Pandits who filled the ministerial ranks or waited upon the king as courtiers. The notable amongst them was Shri Bhatta himself. He was the head of the State physicians and held a ministerial rank. The Sultan was highly kind to him. As already seen, Shri Bhatta was indeed a deserving person. Shri Vara the historian writes that it was due to Shri Bhatta that Brahmans rose high. About him it is stated that

” Shri Bhatta was a Wazir of the king and was very high in his favours. On his death the Sultan not only expressed his great sorrow but settled an early endowment of one crore dinars on his sons.”

A short description of the Pandits who rose high in his reign may not be out of place. Sadasheo Bayu was the royal astronomer, and astrologer and held a very high rank. So did Tilkacharya, a great Budhist scholar. Soma Pandit was a very high dignatory and held a very high and distinguished position at the court and was besides, in charge of the Translation Department. He was greatly gifted for this job on account of his mastery of both Sanskrit and Persian languages. He wrote exquisite poetry in Kashmiri and was well-versed in Persian and Tibetan languages besides Sanskrit. He was the author of a book Jaina Charitra which gives an account of the Sultan’s reign. He was a skilful musician and has written a book on this subject. He translated many Persian books into Sanskrit and besides this, Mahabharata and Raj Taranigni were for the first time translated into Persian under his supervision and direction. He was a great favourite of the king. Sumitra Bhatta was an astrologer of repute who also was in constant attendance at the Court. Rupya Bhatta was another astrologer very much honoured by the king about whom it is recorded that “he could without the labour of calculation, but by merely observing the course of the planets in the past year, know their position in the year to come.” Karpur Bhatta was a physician of renown to avail of whose treatment men from distant lands came to Kashmir. Shree Ramanand renowned scholar of his time wrote an exposition of Mahabhashya. Yodha Bhatta was a great poet in Kashmiri language. He wrote Jaina Prakash and presented it to the king who ” in token of his appreciation bestowed many favours on him.” Bhatta Avatara (or Bhodi Bhatta) as others call him, was a great favourite of the king. He had Committed to memory the whole of the Shah Nama for which the king had a great liking. The duty of Bhatta Avatara was to recite Shah Nama for the delectation of the king. It is said that the king got unbounded pleasure from his recitations. This man was a great musician and has written a treatise on music. Rupya Bhanda was in charge of the palace decorations and Jaya Bhatta maintained the king’s private accounts, and the king’s charities were distributed through him. Jona Raja and Shri Vara were the two historians. The former assisted the Sultan as an assessor in deciding the cases laid before him. Shivara was a great musician who was very much in king’s favour. There were other Pandits also who were given strictly confidential diplomatic missions to execute. In short the Pandits carved for themselves a place in the body politic.

In the foregoing pages we have seen as to how the Pandits again rehabilitated and reorganized themselves. They studied Persian and in a short period of a few years they acquired a mastery over this language and by their useful services they acquired an influence and prestige which put them on par with any favoured class in the realm. It is evidene that the atrocities which were perpetrated on them during the previous rules had not robbed them of their stamina. They possessed it in abundant measure. Those who could not withstand the trials to which time put them changed their faith but those who persisted and went through the ordeal of fire and death came out unseathed and with their stamina undiminished. Zainulabdin breathed his last in the year 1474 A. D.

Though with his passing away the Pandits lost much of their prestige and greatness, yet the structure of society which they had built during his benevolent rule lasted for long and provided them shelter during the vicissitudes that befell them during their chequered career. The vicissitudes they had to go through were many and numerous: vicissitudes that almost brought them to the brink of destruction, but they survived and survive till today

PoK leaders want merger with India

PoK leaders want merger with India
By d-sector Team

Fast changing geo-political equations have made India extend its helping hand to political groups in PoK who have now been openly seeking New Delhi’s help in their struggle for survival and freedom.

While all and sundry in India are criticising Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for bringing Balochistan on to the agenda of Indo-Pak bi-lateral talks, an international seminar organised in New Delhi has once again brought to the fore the approach-avoidance conflict India faces in dealing with the expectations of disenchanted communities from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and frontier regions.

Till recently India did not want to be seen as meddling in Pakistan’s internal affairs, but several political groups in PoK have now been openly seeking New Delhi’s help in their struggle for freedom, dignity and human rights, and now it seems New Delhi is willing to extend a helping hand to the distressed Karakoram communities. India now claims “legitimate interest in territories and peoples that are part of India but under illegal occupation, both to the west as well as to the east”.

These groups say that since India continues to consider the whole of Kashmir, including PoK, as its own territory, it is its duty to protect the local communities against Pakistan, a foreign aggressor for them.

Some of these political leaders and intellectuals from areas around Gilgit and Baltistan in PoK, referred to as Northern Areas by Pakistan, travelled to New Delhi to participate in the seminar on ‘Society, Culture and Politics in the Karakoram Himalayas’. The seminar was dominated by tales of discrimination and persecution of the local people in these areas by Pakistan’s civilian and military establishment.

“I am surprised that India has no concern about what is happening in Gilgit and Baltistan. Pakistan has been openly supporting and encouraging militants in Indian Kashmir and New Delhi doesn’t even want to keep contact with areas that are officially still a part of its own territory,” said Abdul Hamid Khan, chairman of Balawaristan National Front, a political party whose objective is to gain independence from Pakistan. Northern Areas are historically known as Balawaristan.

Khan, like most other political leaders from the region, lives in exile in Europe. He said the Indian position was even more surprising considering the fact that most political formations in the area were now open to a merger with India.

“Even an independent Balawaristan is in larger interest of India as it would not support terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

Shaukat Kashmiri, leader of the United Kashmir National People’s Party, one of the largest political formations in the region, also spoke about a reunification with India. Kashmiri, who is chased by the ISI, has been operating out of Switzerland for the past few years.

Though the leaders from PoK complained about the indifference India shows to their concerns, few former diplomats, army officials and intellectuals of India actively participated in the seminar.

Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Climate Change Shyam Saran made the inaugural address, in which he said, “The destinies of the Karakoram communities and the vision of India as a successful and inclusive plurality are in a sense, linked more than symbolically. We have a duty to be engaged more actively in the survival and I would venture to say, revival of these challenged communities.”

Evidently India is reaching out to the communities in the Karakoram areas – stretching from Swat, Buner, Waziristan, Balochistan and Xinjiang to Gilgit, Hunza and Baltistan in the Northern Areas to Jammu & Kashmir. Significantly, most of these areas lie within the territory of the erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir state.

India’s effort in getting together leaders from these regions is significant considering the rising unrest in several parts of Pakistan’s frontier regions as a result of the stresses of extremism and terrorism. For the first time, India is appealing to these indigenous mountain cultures, regardless of their religion, to bond as communities, rather than as parts of countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and China.

“It is our collective responsibility to preserve and to promote this varied culture, created by people who have a long history, settled existence and outstanding contributions to civilisation. India feels very much a part of this civilisational network which has enriched its own culture,” Saran said.

“In its interaction with Pakistan on Jammu & Kashmir, India has always insisted that all cross-LoC links and potential projects for cooperation in specific areas must cover the entire erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir, including Gilgit and Baltistan. Any consultative mechanism across the LoC must be between self-governing and representative entities and that, too, includes Gilgit and Baltistan,” he added.

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